Duke not only took Maryland down in three straight games but continued its streak as the only undefeated team in the ACC Thursday night.
The Blue Devils (15-2, 8-0 in the ACC) continued to play up to the expectations of a preseason pick to win the league when they swept the match at Cameron Indoor Stadium and settled an old score with the Terrapins (8-9, 1-7).
"We're really excited to be able to have the start that we've had in the ACC and want to work very hard to continue it," head coach Jolene Nagel said. "We talked how we certainly wanted to have a good start, a fast start, so [Maryland] knew we meant business."
Last season, Duke was also the preseason pick to win the ACC but finished one win shy of a three-way tie for first place as Maryland and North Carolina earned the top spot. In the 2004 ACC tournament, the seventh-seeded Terrapins knocked third-seeded Duke out in the semifinals with a win in five games.
Duke's victory over Maryland-combined with the away sweep of North Carolina Sept. 30-was especially satisfying. This season, the Blue Devils have defeated both of last year's champions to remain in first place and perfect in the ACC.
"We definitely wanted revenge today," junior Carrie DeMange said. "We just came out to play and just wanted to have fun. We knew the record that the Maryland team had, and just knew we needed to play."
Duke and Maryland traded off the first points of game one until, at 9-8, DeMange slammed home a commanding kill to shift the momentum in the Blue Devils' favor. In game two, Duke went on a late 14-8 run after an early back-and-forth battle to earn a 30-20 victory.
The Terrapins could not stop the Blue Devils from pulling- and staying-ahead. Halfway through game three, Duke gave some of its starters a rest on the way to a 30-21 game and match win.
On the Duke offense, freshman Rachael Moss overpowered Maryland with a match-high 14 kills and two aces, while adding 18 digs on the defensive end. Tealle Hunkus and DeMange contributed with 12 kills apiece off of Ali Hausfeld's 41 assists. Libero Jenny Shull served for two aces along with anchoring the defense with 21 digs.
With Thursday's win, the Blue Devils are four games into a grueling stretch of the schedule in which the team plays five ACC games in eight days. Except for Tuesday's foray into Demon Deacon territory, Duke plays the rest of the stretch at Cameron Indoor Stadium-a significant advantage since the Blue Devils went undefeated at home last season and have yet to drop a match at home this year.
"Our team feels like Cameron is home sweet home-that's for sure," Nagel said. "We've had a lot of matches in the last few days, and I think the team is doing a great job of mentally being where they need to be at the time of the competition."
The Blue Devils' maturity and veteran experience have been important in keeping their focus and to the team's subsequent success. Duke hopes to keep the momentum going into tonight's match against Boston College to round out the five-game stretch.
"We're going on a 8-0 streak right now so hopefully we can continue that," DeMange said. "With five games, you just have to play. That's what the ACC's all about."
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